The invention relates to water supply systems. In particular, the invention relates to methods and systems for improving availability of hot water.
Domestic water installations are known, for example, from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,983,922 A, 5,941,275 A, 6,026,844 A and 5,944,221 A.
Furthermore, such domestic water installations are known under the name “Autocirc” and “Recirc” of the companies Laing GmbH Systeme fuer Waermetechnik, Klingelbrunnenweg 4, 71686 Remseck, Germany and Laing Thermotech, Inc., 2295 Main Street, San Diego, Calif. 92 154 USA.
In the case of domestic water installations, the fundamental problem with respect to making hot water available is that the water can cool down in the hot water line and cooled water is available immediately after opening a faucet at a tap connection for withdrawing hot water. It is known to provide a thermostat control, with which water is circulated via a circulation pump, wherein the circulation pump is switched on when the water reaches a specific, lower temperature at a sensor and the circulation pump is switched off when the water reaches a specific, higher temperature.
It is also known to switch a water circulation on and off via a time-switch clock.